> she is also the founding partner of shareware skins alongside close sister kim. >> as a young black female entrepreneur, the only thing i could do was what i know from my experience and the honest truth is i did not set out to create a company that was deeply rooted in the principles of inclusion and diversity, i set out to make a company that was right for me. >> i will speak to emma between about how to measure success and why diversity remains elusive in the world of fashion. >> emma greene, thank you so much for joining us on bloomberg. this is so exciting. you represent so much for so

many people. everything you touch. all of the business you touch turned into gold. did you ever think you would be such a success? >> know. most of the businesses i test earlier in the day did not turn to gold. i love this idea of overnight success but i've just done a lot and there has been a lot of trial and error along the way. i've probably done every job imaginable from having a paper at what i was 12 to working in a deli working in shops to starting things that were less accessible to starting things that have had medium success. i think there's been a long journey and i am leaving for that now i am 41 years old and i am starting to see that this type of success is really great. >> you are always starting the journeys. you always wanted to succeed. is that actually what makes your success? >> i think so. i think there is an element of luck in any of these things when you take part what luck means i

really believe that when opportunity meets preparation, i was always prepared and when my opportunity came along i was ready to really work for it. then there is that old -- >> i didn't even know what an entrepreneur was. if you asked me when i was a kid -- i came from east london and i didn't know anyone who had an all business. everyone i knew went to work to pay their bills with usually very little joy in it. so even the idea of doing something that felt purposeful or meaningful wasn't really part of my understanding. i tried really hard to get close to what it is that i love which is the fashion business but i didn't ever think about starting my own thing. i actually think it came out of necessity. i was like who is going to employ me and pay me what i think i deserve? i left a company because i was like they are just not paying me properly. i'm going to just have to pay myself.

>> is 24. >> it was the determination of actually making something. >> it was -- i felt like i was adding a lot of value and i think 70 people through their careers have this thing -- adding a lot of value and i am not being enumerated for the thing i bring it at the table. but at 24 you don't really have that many options. i do but a lot of people do. i went to a company and try to do my best at the position i was given and thankfully somebody saw that and decided maybe we will set this girl up on her own. but i talked to either so many young people i employed were -- i used to think that is such amazingly good advice. no one is ever going to look at you to do the next thing unless you are excelling where you are today. sometimes just buckling down and doing the absolute best job at wherever you are is the best way to get ahead. >> then making the step of leaving and going out on your own.

>> it is not it was easy. >> are member the first time i got a little bit of backing and they said to me you're are going to be in charge of your own now. i went home and googled it. sometimes naivety is the best thing for any algebra. i didn't know what i didn't know and so i had to just learn fast and fail fast. throughout my career i haven't made the best choices every time but i think part of being a good entrepreneur is knowing when things are not going right and knowing what you don't know and i surrounded myself with the right people continuously. because what is the biggest mistake you learn from? what's the biggest mistake was when i had my first agency and i was killing it in london. so there is this idea that the company was completely exportable and i went to the u.s.. that office went really well and then i failed miserably. under invested, didn't bring the right people in.

i learned that the hard way. i learned that by starting something, dragging people in there. there is nothing like a bit of embarrassment to help with -- humbled us all. i packed everything up and they really had to pack my own office backup. there was a fantastic learning. i never let it break my spirit. i really truly took those learnings and when i started my second company i was like this is where i need to do something different until i literally packed up my family and went and moved to l.a. and knew if i was going to do something it was going to be successful. i would need to do it myself and be in the country and i need to give it my absolute all. >> is that giving time to understand the market? was it difficult to do from not being in the city? >> being in country, in part of the fabric of that culture has been really important. especially for my business, good american which is really about what is happening at the moment

like where are we in society as women? where is fashion? i think that has been really important to figure out where it is all happening. class that is a bold move selling denim to americans. >> that is true. nobody needs more bluejeans. but coming to a business at the heart of what we do is what sets us apart. i think there are so many brands but how do consumers make choices? we make choices based on what we believe is important and will be want our children to see. i don't only too well that i don't want my daughters wasting time thinking about how much they weigh, what they look like and i think fashion has done a terrible job of reinforcing over the beauty ideal. and so with good american the whole purpose of the brand was to say we are going to make women make their choices and hopefully we will take some of that pain out of what it means to be left out of the conversation or not represented

in fashion. we've done a pretty well i think. >> you had this idea about the inclusivity of making women feel good. who do you talk about it with first? >> funnily enough, my husband. because i think we are both entrepreneur so it is natural for me to bet any idea backwards and forwards with him but i worked for years in the fashion business so i've been part of the problem. it is like i've seen firsthand how some fashion businesses make women feel and i think there is one thing, being really vocal and being an instagram activist and talking about something, there is a difference about putting your money where your mouth is really trying to do something about the problem. that is what i do with that business. how do i take everything i know and learn and do the opposite? i think as a young black female entrepreneur, the only thing i could do is what i know from my experience. the honest truth is i did not set out to create a company that was deeply rooted in the

principles of inclusivity and diversity. i set out to make a company that was right for me and my friends. i knew if i had a problem, chances are something else does. i think that is where some of the businesses are created. when you are solving a problem that is real for you and therefore go for the consumer. >> is there a danger that some entrepreneurs will get too nervous? >> it is very true. i think that is one way to approach things and there is a certain sense but for me i got my got. i got instinct tells me a lot and i tend not to go against my gut. i'd be lying if i said i didn't run some numbers and feel like there was commercial opportunity here. nobody makes 19 sizes of anything without reckoning i could sell them somewhere. i think so much more of what i've done throughout my career has been in response to a feeling i've had and then acting on that feeling. >> were you surprised at how many other people felt like you? >> yes. honestly. it is one of those things that on paper, good american has been

such a massive success but if you go back to day one, is like you felt a million dollars in day one. 9:00 i was a hero, by 11:00 i had no stock left and everyone was like you have no idea what you are doing do you? and i was like no, i don't. that was my first lesson in how to be excellent from the customer services point of view. it was like how long do i think people will wait? as long as it would take me. both. i was like can you help me get some more fabric? somewhere in that it all kind of worked out. what people respond to is brands that have authenticity and there is a level of honesty that is needed. i went and said we had no idea how popular and how much this was going to work with customers. we know we messed up. we don't want to disappoint you. there is a part of that honesty

that really works with people. it was clearly not written that way. how i would speak to my mom or something. >> coming up,, breaks one of the last taboos in fashion. and how success is making to reassess what it means to be an entrepreneur. ♪ ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ an ever-changing landscape comes with challenges. from our vantage point, we see opportunities.

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west's was the biggest animals in history when it made $1 million in sales on its first day. she tells me about her success and the challenges that remain across the industry. >> has fashion done -- it hasn't done enough but comes to inclusivity and diversity but has it done something in the past five to 10 years? >> it is interesting because

fashion as quick as it is to change in the aesthetic, it is very difficult to change a system. i think that comes down to who makes decisions and the people that make decisions in fashion don't typically look like me. they aren't typically women all the time. we look at who is at the helm of the biggest high street players, it has to be the same type of people and so i honestly think there is a lot of work to be done. progress has definitely happened but you will need to look at the last new york fashion week each of the biggest and most commercial to see there is so much toe -- tokenism around what inclusivity really means. we are back to where we were 20 or 30 years ago. where you had one single black model that would walked on the catwalk and now we are in that same situation where i can remember -- i think it was less than 3% of models that came down the catwalk were below a size 12. there was just so much work to be done there.

size is last allowed tablet. we are allowed to display people because of their size and it. >> i was reading something and same people feel brothers when they look at all the stuff because they don't feel represented and they feel there was something wrong with them. but that is the whole reason i started the brand. if you go back seven years ago, i was pregnant with my second child. a girl. i really felt that deeply. like how much time and effort you can spend and waste time. to me is like if you take out some of that worry and the strife around how much we think about our looks and put our energy into saying i need a pay raise, i think i should be doing something else with my life, part of it was like what happens if you shift and change the paradigm of how people see themselves? it is a really try -- trite sense but representation really matters. using a version of yourself in something, there is a level of acceptance. that is what i wanted to do.

level the playing field and say we all look different, we all are different and that is ok. that is not what we should be thinking about. we should be thinking about equal pay. let's just get inequality going with men. these two workplace all throughout the industry. the media has such a huge impact on us. we need to see better representation everywhere. >> is that why you're are doing dragon's den? >> into some interesting you asked me earlier about what i think about being an entrepreneur. i never thought about being an entrepreneur. as i got more successful, i thought a lot about what it means to be an entrepreneur. they talk about being very small at the top. there is real skill. it is the same people doing the same deals and giving each other money. i'll typically lead to about five or six schools. because i am on content in the

u.s., the idea of dragon's den and the idea you could be an entrepreneur with seemingly very little background and no access to funding and walk on and get a check to start to do something that means something to give me something to your family, why wouldn't you? it wasn't so long ago that i was out fundraising. i was like if i can be a small part of somebody's journey that wouldn't usually get the opportunity, it would make so much sense. it is not just about women, it is about if you did not have the means or education to do anything differently than getting up and going to work everyday that does not mean to say you can't have a successful business. i am like walking proof of that. i left school when i was 16 years old and i've done pretty well. to me it is about leveling the playing field. i love the idea of that being seen on tv and people having that idea that they can be successful if they just get an opportunity. >> is entrepreneurship in the u.s. and u.k. different? in the u.s. there is almost a

badge of honor in failing and starting again. i don't know if there is a stigma in the you have people be less bald. >> and i think there is less bold. there is more -- we are different here. we are different here. we'll celebrate that in the same way. i find it difficult to say because i find i am so celebrated. i turned up in his office and two girls come up to me and they are like we love you. high five. so everything is shifting. what i'm all about is how many people and it doesn't all work out. i think we have to be a little bit more honest with ourselves about what it takes and how hard it is. >> it is hard because you need to build a team around you. you need funding. there is a little bit of what if found hardest? what if i am really honest, probably the funding pace. without the right background and circles around you, access is really difficult.

i raise my first check for my class because i built a business in fashion media. the only rich people and he were clients of mine that have been paying the retainers. that was the easiest way for me. most of them said no. the compass i guess. i think just knowing where to go in the beginning -- they are the barriers that most people face. but once you are in it, i think it is all so much about the journey. none of the stuff happens like it does on social media and i think just knowing you are on a journey. i honestly think the best way to start a business is with no money. you don't need to go out every stage of finances, you need to figure out one of my creating, where is my audience and what are my uniquely good at? when you figure out what you're good at, you know who else you need around you to make something really work. >> how did that shape the

entrepreneur that you are? >> i think i've been really lucky to be surrounded by so many incredible entrepreneurs starting with my clients, also my husband, being around people like chris and then just having access and listening and watching some brilliant people as i grew up. even on a tv, really sucking that up. i am one of those people that can learn from anything. i read books about being an entrepreneur before i even really knew what one was. i really am someone who will take from any situation that you let me. >> why diversity is a superpower and what she is doing to try to improve access and opportunity.

i continue the conversation by asking emma about the business and her commitment to supporting diversity and black-owned companies. >> skims is huge. did you think that an underachieving company would ever work? >> skims has grown so unbelievably and that is kim kardashian's company. it was her idea from the outset. i honestly believe that we never thought it would just be one thing. we always thought about it as

being this huge company that would do lots of things. but that company was based on just doing one product really well. i think that is a testament to any great company. we had so much focus in the beginning. we were like here's what we're going to do. we going to make superior shape where in every single size in every single color and it worked out incredibly well. christman was the right time to grow or go into a slightly different branch? >> so interesting because in good american, the first time we ever thought of going into another category was because customers are there. i think it is my way to think about your growth and development business. you really have to listen. you can't take that commentary like just a good things because your customers tell you what they need to hear and they will also tell you what you don't want to hear. it is like a big fat mirror. i'd like that is one of the things where social media is so exceptionally important in business right now because it is just a reflection of everything

you're doing. if you're listening carefully enough, that it will tell you things. all you need to do is to into that. when i think about category expansion, it really is in regards to or in relation to what customers are asking for. and we make those decisions based on that. >> how do you build a team that can say this is not a great idea? class that is a great question. i think i spent about 25% of my time hiring and i will take speculative meetings even if i don't have a position that is available because you are only as good as your team and to do what i do, you have to surround yourself with experts like people who are really good at what they do and part of that is being able to stand up to you and -- i need people to people to say to me that is a bad idea work based on my experience because my experience is limited. >> do you think it is different

being a leader in 2024 that was in 2004? >> 100%. the brick work workforce has changed immeasurably. we think post-pandemic would also the generation we are dealing with right now, it is highly different and you have to create a company that can succeed with the workforce it has at his disposal. i think there has been enormous amounts of change. younger people have a different expectation of their life and their work and how those two things fit together and like it or not, covid changed the working environment forever. either adapt or die. i knew had an opinion about how i want to come into his space or a business. how do we were to maximize this? at the end of that week all want the same thing. >> i am so personality driven.

a good idea is a good idea and a white space is a white if i meet someone that does something to me, i feel it immediately. >> fire in the belly? what sometimes it is that mad passion. i can get is about an origami company. i am that person. i responded that because that is who i am. i also respond to the fact that sometimes seeing a little bit of yourself and knowing someone hasn't got an opportunity or a chance it is like i will have a crack. >> what will emma greene do in five years? >> i don't know. lie down? it is true. i will find something else. i am really focused on a lot of my nonprofit work. it is really focused on creating

some semblance of balance in the world of black-owned businesses. i honestly believe that any way i can use my voice, use my influence and use the knowledge i've built for good is a good use of my image. >> why is it so underfunded? >> it is so interesting. it is about access. i think about this all the time. talent is fairly evenly dissipated. opportunity isn't. but we need is to give more people opportunity regardless of education, race and background, age, all the things. it's about leveling the playing field to come back to that same idea of who gets to be an entrepreneur. so i really believe we can open that up. i've proven in my businesses that diversity is actually a superpower. more people you have at the table, the more customers you can serve. it is just good business. it is not about being holier than thou are giving somebody an

opportunity that doesn't deserve it. it is about being able to service as many customers as you can and the more minds you have around the table their affect your customer base, the better. >> thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you so much. when i was your age, we never had anything like this. what? wifi? wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. the basement. so i can finally throw that party... and invite shannon barnes. dream do come true. xfinity gives you reliable wifi with wall-to-wall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. maybe we'll even get married one day. i wonder what i will be doing? probably still living here with mom and dad. fast reliable speeds right where you need them. that's wall-to-wall wifi with xfinity.